The Wire/Treme Writer David Mills: 1961-2010

Screenwriter David Mills, one of the minds behind iconic television programming such as ER, NYPD Blue and The Wire, died yesterday of a brain aneurysm in New Orleans while working on his latest endeavor, Treme (set to premiere on April 11). He was 48.

A friend of Treme creator David Simon since their college days at the University of Maryland, Mills started his career as a newspaper reporter (for the style section of The Washington Post) and then reunited with Simon to craft Emmy award-winner, The Corner. Mills continued to have a stellar run writing for TV, and even created and executive produced his own series for NBC, Kingpin.

At the time of his death, Mills was eagerly awaiting the premiere of the New Orleans-based HBO series, Treme.In a recent interview, he said the following about the new show: “I will never know as much about New Orleans music as Dave Simon. I will never know as much about the social world and the social history and the characters of the town as Eric. So I can’t bring any of that. What I can bring is the sort of simple story stuff, the stuff I would feel like I can contribute to any show I happen to be on at any given time, which is just, ‘How do we get the most out of these characters?’”